Information Technology as an Enabler Of Knowledge Management: An Empirical Analysis

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Abstract The past two decades have seen growing interest in knowledge management and the use of information technologies. However, it is not clear how the relation between IT competency and knowledge management works. This study provides a better understanding of that relation. Through an empirical study of 162 Spanish firms, the work finds that IT competency has a direct effect on the processes of knowledge management: knowledge generation, knowledge transfer, and knowledge codification and storage. At the same time, IT competency also has an indirect effect on knowledge management by facilitating the development of organizational structures that favor the development and expansion of knowledge. These findings reinforce a field that is of increasing interest to researchers, and which has seen only a limited number of empirical studies to date.